The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) responds to School Bus Safety... -- ALBANY, N.Y., July 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) responds to School Bus Safety Recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)

ALBANY, N.Y., July 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Statement by Michael Martin Executive Director NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR PUPIL TRANSPORTATION (NAPT): The National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) has long sought science-based information and definitive recommendations from federal-level experts on the question of how best to make decisions that will definitively improve safety in school transportation.

Today, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) added valuable new information to the discussion about improving passenger crash protection in a school bus. We have the highest regard for the NTSB and the work it does in all its crash investigations.

We continue to believe that state and local policy-makers need information like this, information derived from fact-based analysis and testing as well as recommendations based on data and science rather than emotions, to make decisions that will improve the passenger crash protection system in large school buses.

We look forward to working with NTSB and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to evaluate the practicability of implementing the recommendations that have been offered today.

In the meantime, parents should be reassured that school buses remain safe for their children and are, in fact, the safest way for them to get to and home from school. We encourage NTSB and NHTS to reinforce and reiterate that message whenever possible.